


Heart Shaped Box

by dollseyes



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-26
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2018-03-19 16:29:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 22,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3616578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dollseyes/pseuds/dollseyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After 100 years of living under Peter's rule, Wendy can at last leave Neverland.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Small Deception

"Am I free?" "Not yet Wendy." Stuck in a cage for years, she had grown to loathe the boy she had once idolized. He made her do things that the London Wendy would never have done. She had lied; she had hurt others. London Wendy wouldn't have done it, but London Wendy didn't need to worry about the safety of her brothers or being trapped in a cage for the smallest of disobediences.

It was not a small disobedience that had gotten her stuck in the cage that time. Peter asked much and gave nothing in return, except for a stupid box and some riddles. It had been the last line, the moral boundary she would not cross, not for any promises or trinkets Peter would give. When he had asked her to take a life, she knew she could no longer follow him. Better eternity spent in a cage than eternity with someone's blood on her hands.

As Peter unlocked the cage, Wendy dreaded what he might ask this time. In Neverland, everything came with a price, and Peter's rates were higher than most. "Am I free?" "Not yet, Wendy Bird. There's something I need you to do." "What is it?" He led her by the elbow, walking the back paths through the forest. Wendy knew better to attempt escape through the labyrinth of trees and thorns, so she stuck close beside Peter. "A small deception." "And what do I get for it?" Peter pursed his lips in thought. "If all goes to plan I can promise your freedom." They walked in silence as Wendy thought about his offer. She recalled the first time he had offered her freedom.

_"Just ask her for the pixie dust. A small vial. Tell her you want to go home, that you're not happy here." "Lie to her?" Wendy had asked, shocked. "It's not a lie. You do want to go home, don't you? If you do this, you can. You can see your brothers again." Wendy tried to remember her brothers. Names came to mind, but their faces eluded her. "I suppose." Peter had lifted her hand to his mouth, pressing his lips to the back of her hand. "Then you should start going." He released her hand._

_Wendy glanced up at the looming tree house above her. A tattered sign hung lopsided by one chain, and it swung slightly in the wind. Peter had told her that a fairy lived at the top, but Wendy wasn't sure. Fairies lived in flowers in giant gardens, not in rundown tree houses. Wendy climbed to the top of the treehouse, her gaze fixed above. If she looked down, she might not be able to continue, and Peter would be disappointed in her. If she looked down, she would remember falling from the sky. She would remember the Shadow dropping her. Peter had caught her in the end, but the terror of falling lingered. He said she was being foolish, that heights were nothing to fear, but she had seen it in his eyes, the day he learned he could no longer fly. He was afraid too._

_Peter Pan was afraid of heights._

_That's why Wendy had to talk to the fairy. The Lost Boys would question him if he asked, but he knew Wendy would do it. She would face her fear for him. She would do most anything for him._

At the time it seemed only natural, her unquestioning loyalty. Now it scared her how blind she had been. Peter had been playing her, this entire time. Now he was offering her empty words, in exchange for her deception. The question was, did she dare call his bluff? "Freedom?" She asked, turning her eyes up to gaze at him as they walked. She hoped he could not see the hate behind her eyes. Perhaps he did, but he gave no outward sign.

His hand slipped down from her elbow to her hand, a gesture that years before would have made her heart pound out of her chest, but now it made her want to jerk her fingers out of his. "My last scheme, I promise. Once this is done, I will have enough power to send you home. To return you to your brothers." He took a step closer to her, so that she could feel her nightgown brush against him. "I could give you a good life, wherever you wanted. You could be whoever you wanted. I do not just offer you freedom; I offer you your future on a golden platter. Anything you dream of could be yours."

She let herself gaze into his eyes, trying to see if he was lying. Wendy thought it might be one way, but there was only one way to be certain. Rising up on her toes, she pressed her lips to his. He did not seem taken aback, but met her lips with a vigor that gave her the answer she knew was true in her heart.

As she pulled away she whispered into his lips, "Liar." Dropping back into her heels, she saw his eyes flash with the look that told her that she amused him, that she had won his little game. "You would never let me go. You will never let me go, not until you were certain you would never need me again. You like your toys too much to let them free."

He smiled down at her, but it was not a childish grin that shone with childish innocence; that smile was a lie. This smile he showed her was his devil smile, the one only seen when Wendy won his game, saw through his lies.

"Clever girl. You know me all too well. So, now that the charade is up, what is it you would like in return for this service?" Wendy thought about it. What could she ask for that he would not immediately turn down? She realized she was chewing her lip as she thought, a habit her mother had tried to break her of a century before. "I want-" An idea formed in her mind. "I want a mermaid. Not a Neverland one though." Peter pursed his lips and absent-mindedly brushed a strand of hair from her face as he thought. His palm rested against her cheek. "Why would you want one of those?" She leaned her head into his touch, "Just something Tink told me once." "And what did Tink tell you?"

_That mermaids are made to travel between worlds, but the ones here are trapped by your spell._

"She said that mermaids are the most beautiful creatures alive, and that if you can get a lock of one's hair, you will become just as beautiful." She looked down, as if ashamed. Peter laughed, "Girls. What need have you of beauty? You are a single girl on an island of boys who would never notice if you grew a second head." Wendy extended her bottom lip slightly in a pout. "I'm sorry if I offended you with my girlish wishes." She turned back the way they were walking. "Wait." Peter groaned. "How about I just fetch you some of the hair myself?" That would be just fine. "I suppose that might work." Peter leaned down, his lips brushing hers and Wendy wondered if he was trying to make her remember their first kiss. If he was, it was working.

_Wendy rushed into Peter's arms, wrapping herself around him. It was before he lost his flight, before she had seen his true self. "Hello, Wendy Bird. Did you miss me?" "I thought you were going to die. That they would kill you." She remembered feeling his chest move as he chuckled. " How sweet of you to worry, but trust me, I can handle a few pirates." He had flown them to the ledge overlooking mermaid lagoon. The sun was beginning to set and Wendy turned to look at Peter, only to find his gaze on her. "Peter?" He leaned his face near hers, and with the slightest of touches, he planted a kiss on her lips._

The first time he kissed her it had been almost timid and her heart had beat rapidly against her ribcage, like a bird wishing to fly. Now Wendy had just been released from a cage of Peter's making, but she almost wished she was back in it. She could not stand to be a pawn in his little game. He was tempting her, testing her. When he pulled away, he wore a triumphant grin. Wendy sighed, "What exactly must I do?"


	2. Oranges

Tricking Henry was almost too easy. He had grown up in a world where Peter Pan and Wendy Darling were childhood sweethearts, and while that might have once been true, in Wendy's mind at least, the entire story needed to be taken with an ocean of salt. "Peter is doing the best that he can, but the magic here on the island is dying." It always helped of there was some truth behind the lies. The islands magic was dying, even Wendy could feel it, and she was not as tied to the island as Peter. "Please, Henry, you must help." Wendy reached out, grabbing the boy's hand. "You are the only one who can save magic."

She paused, preparing for the hard sell, "Without it, I will most certainly die." Wendy coughed, turning away like she was afraid he might catch her fake illness. "Please, you have stayed too long. I could never forgive myself if you were to sucumb to this." Though she had been careful not to specify any particular disease, she made sure that Henry knew that it was fatal, that he was in danger by being anywhere near her.

Henry stood. "I'll find a way to make you better." With his little heroic piece in, he left. As he disappeared down the ladder, Peter appeared from behind the curtain. "Bravo. You've become quite the little actress. You had me convinced." Wendy propped herself up on her elbows. "What is it you want from him?" Peter ran his hands along the metal of the bedpost. "He has something that I need." There was only one thing that would make Peter bend to her wishes so easily. "Henry has the heart of the truest believer." The corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk. "Pretty and smart. I knew there was a reason I kept you around." Wendy did not return his smile. "It wasn't because you needed my brothers to work for you back in my world?"

His eyes narrowed, "If that was all I needed, you would've been long dead. After all, your brothers have only my word that you live. For all they know, I dropped you in the Enchanted Forest where you lived a long and prosperous life before dying at the ripe age of sixty." Wendy shuddered. "And why didn't you do that?" He cocked his head. "I take it you have not figured out how to open the box?" Wendy clenched her teeth. "I suppose you won't give me a better hint this time either." Peter tapped his nose and disappeared. Wendy sighed, reached under the bed and pulled out the box Peter had given her.

_"I can't get it to open." Peter glanced over at her, his eyes hard. He was sitting on a log a few feet away. Never before had an old stump looked more like a throne. Before him was a bowl of oranges."Maybe you're not as smart as I give you credit for." Wendy looked up with hurt in her eyes. "Can't you give me a hint?" Peter pursed his lips. "Fine. The box holds half of a pair." He picked up an orange, using his nails to sink his fingers into the fruity flesh and tearing it apart. It split into two relatively equal pieces. "The box can only be opened by the other half." Wendy resisted the urge to throw the box at him. "That would assume I knew what was in the box." Peter sat next to her, his crossed knees brushing hers. He offered her half of the orange. "I think you'll figure it out."_

_Wendy accepted his gift and watched him as he popped an orange slice in his mouth, quick to chew and swallow. Wendy pulled one out and placed it on her tongue, making small punctures and sucking the juice out slowly, savoring it. She had never had oranges before coming to Neverland and they were still a novelty to her. Her parents claimed they were too expensive, an unnecessary frivolity. Peter thought that parents were an unnecessary frivolity._

_They sat beside the fire in an empty camp. The Lost Boys were out, hunting or something. Peter hadn't said. "Peter?" His eyes met hers. "Wendy?" "Why can't you fly anymore?" He tossed the orange peel into the fire and stood, looking down into the flames as the rind burned. "I wanted something that the island didn't like, so it punished me." Wendy furrowed her eyebrows. "I thought that you controlled the island." "I do." "Then why..." "That's enough, Wendy."_


	3. Falling

Wendy sat in the bed, waiting for Peter to return with her next instructions. Her fingers traced the corners of the box in her lap. It was a simple square of wood, polished smooth around the edges. At a glance you might think that it had no seal and would lift open like a hope chest or jewelry box, but Wendy had discovered otherwise. No matter what she tried, she could not open it. It did not break, had no grip for prying and resisted any sort of destructive methods Wendy could think up. She had tried everything, to no avail. The box had been sealed with magic, so that it would only open once she had solved the riddle. What was so important to Peter that he would seal it magically in a box, but feel confident enough to leave it with Wendy?

Perhaps it was nothing, and he invented the box just to torment her. Something inside her told her that wasn't true, that Peter had trusted her with something valuable, but it came from the same place that argued there was still a good person inside of Peter, while all evidence proved otherwise. She heard voices ascending the ladder. Peter's she recognized immediately, but the other voice. "I want to help save magic."

Henry.

Wendy swung her legs back into bed, closed her eyes and realized there was no time to store the box back beneath the bed, so she clutched it tightly to her chest. "Neverland needs you Henry. I need you. Wendy's life depends on you." They were at the top of the ladder, Henry entering first, followed closely by Peter. "She's sleeping," Henry whispered. "Then we mustn't wake her." Wendy could feel Peter lean over her, prying the box from her fingers. "What's that?" Henry whispered. "Just a really old box. I wondered where it went. It has been so long since I gave it to her, I wasn't sure if she kept it." "What's in it?"

She felt Peter kneel beside her bed, tucking the box beneath the mattress. "Nothing important. An inside joke really." Peter stood again and the floorboards of the tree house creaked beneath his feet. "We should head back to camp."

Peter started to leave and Wendy held back a sigh of relief, but then Henry spoke again. "We should take her back to camp with us. Then it will be easier to look over her, and she won't be so alone."

Wendy could sense Peter's pursed lips, without having to see them. "You're right. She'll be better off there. Safer." Wendy wanted to scream. The last thing in the world she needed was to be closer to Peter's camp. She felt Peter's hand on her shoulder and she tensed. There was no doubt Peter noticed. "Wendy," he said gently, like he had when she had first come to the island. "Wendy wake up." "Mhhmm?" Wendy hummed groggily. "Do you feel well enough to climb down?" She nodded her head, letting Peter help her from the bed.

He waved Henry down the ladder and led her by the hand to the ladder. He met her eyes and the message was clear. Don't try anything. Wendy raised her eyebrow in a challenge and Peter's eyes narrowed. She started to descend down after them. After spending years stuck in a cage, her legs cried out at the sudden exertion. It took all that she had to make it most of the way down, but when she was a few feet above the ground, her bare feet slipped and she fell, right into Peter's arms. He smirked and Wendy wished her fall hadn't fit snuggly into his deception.

He carried her knight-in-shining-armor style and she rested her head against his shoulder. On the outskirts of camp a bed appeared, probably by magic. Henry pulled the covers away and Peter laid her down, drawing the covers back over her body. Wendy watched Henry walk away, presumably into camp and Peter sat beside her on the bed. She rolled on her side, turning away from him.

"Don't be like that, Wendy. Soon, there will be no more need for lies. Maybe if you're good, I will bring your brothers here, to stay on Neverland." Wendy stayed silent, ignoring him. As soon as he was gone she buried her head in the pillow and cried. Soon Peter would have everything he wanted, and she would be trapped here, with him for all of eternity.

_Peter sat on the branch of the pixie dust trees, swinging his legs ten feet up in the air. "You certain you won't join me?" Wendy looked up at him from where she sat a few trees away, threading some of Neverland's flora together into a daisy chain while she waited for Peter to stop playing around. "Positive." "I suppose I will just have to come down there then." She raised her hand to block the sun. "I suppose." Peter slid off the branch like he had done a thousand times before, floating down to the earth and landing soft as a feather, but this time, he didn't float._

_He fell._

_Wendy screamed and ran to where he lay on the ground, face up. She knelt down before him, grabbing his arm. "Peter are you all right?" He had looked at her and she watched a shadow settle on his face. "I'm fine." He yanked his arm away from her and stood. The last she saw of him for the next few days was his back as he stalked off into the forest. The next time she would see him, he would give her an impossible box and a riddle._


	4. Trust

Wendy awoke to find someone seated beside her on the bed. "Peter?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. "No. It's me." She turned and saw a dark-haired boy in a black coat and a striped scarf. "Henry? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the Lost Boys?" Henry shrugged, "I don't like the games they play." Wendy sighed, "Me neither." Henry looked down at his hands. "How do you feel?" "Better, now that I know there is hope. I don't suppose you can imagine what it is like to worry constantly that you'll always be like this. That you'll always be stuck."

Wendy sat up and curled her knees beneath her. "Sit with me. I could use the company." Henry sat down beside her. Already she could see the slightly lost look in his eyes. "Are you alright, Henry?" He met her eyes. "You won't always be stuck, Wendy. Once I help Peter save magic, my moms will come and you can come home with us. Peter will let you go, he does in the story."

Wendy reached out and took Henry's hand. "This isn't a story, Henry. Sometimes the stories change. Don't trust-"

"There you are Henry." Wendy looked up to see Felix standing beneath a tree in the shade. Wendy wondered how long he had been standing there. "Don't trust who?" Henry asked. Wendy held Felix's gaze for a moment longer.

_Peter. Don't trust Peter._

"Don't trust everything your parents tell you. I think you should go. Peter is probably looking for you." Henry stood and walked off towards camp, but Felix stayed.

"Pan won't be happy to hear what you've been telling the boy." Wendy stared defiantly back at him. "I'm long past caring about Peter's happiness." "I won't mourn you when you're gone. Goodbye Wendy Bird." With that Peter's right hand man disappeared into the forest.

_Felix had been Peter's shadow for as long as Wendy could remember. He was deeply loyal, and Peter showed him a grudging respect, unlike he showed any Lost Boy, or even her._

_Wendy had tried to befriend him once, back when Neverland seemed new and green, but not since._

_They had a silent agreement._

_When Peter paid Felix attention, Wendy kept her distance. When Peter's world revolved around Wendy, Felix stayed away._

_Since Peter's Fall, the boy spent more time around Felix, leaving Wendy alone to her own devices._

_Wendy wandered between trees, looking up at the canopy overhead. She could see a tree house peaking between leaves. Wendy wondered if Tink was in. The fairy had not been seen in a few months, but this was not unusual. Sometimes she could be gone for years, but usually it was easier. Usually Wendy had Peter._

_"Looking for the fairy, love?"_

_Wendy didn't need to turn to recognize the pirate's voice._

_"Killian. You were gone quite a while."_

_"Miss me, doll?"_

_She rolled her eyes and laughed. He was a flirt, and would always be a flirt, despite the fact she was physically ten years younger than him. Wendy wasn't certain that alone would dissuade him. No, the pirate's heart belonged to someone. Someone he had lost. Flirting was his way of staying cheery._

_"What have you been up to?"_

_"Hunting crocodiles."_

_The bitterness and anger in his voice made Wendy turn to look at him._

_"Have you found any leads?"_

_He shook his head. His good hand twisted the hook, tightening and unscrewing it._

_Wendy looked to him. "I suppose your bean supply is depleted. That would explain why you're here."_

_He shrugged. "Tink always has extra."_

_"I'm not sure if she's in. Though, that probably means nothing to you. While you're up there can you see if she has any paper? Peter was hoping to make more copies of the picture."_

_Hook rolled his eyes as he ascended the ladder._

_"Always the loyal follower Wendy. Even when he ignores you, you still jump to his beck and call."_

_"You would've done the same for Milah," she calls up as he reaches the height of the house._

_"Ay," he calls back, "but Milah wasn't an immortal teenage boy hell bent on ripping out the heart of an innocent soul."_

_Wendy waited for him to return before continuing the conversation. As he handed her a stack of dry paper, she said, almost in a whisper, "That's not how it is."_

_"Wendy. I know you aren't that naive. You know what he's doing, and yet you still help him."_

_"You know I can't deny him. If I do..."_

_"I know, just be careful, love. Wouldn't want to see you getting too hurt."_

 


	5. Back

"I take back everything I ever said about you being clever. You hope to cross me, to turn the boy against me?" He was pacing around the area before her like a caged panther. Wendy stood from the bed. "I don't want to play anymore, Peter." He stopped dead. "What?" She lifted her chin. "I don't want to play. These sick games of lies and deceit. I'm done."

Peter laughed a harsh laugh. "I give you an inch of freedom and now you want a mile. Girls, never happy with what they have." "Boys, never growing up and thinking about anyone but themselves."

"You don't understand what it's like to grow up, to have to be an adult, to always worry about others." "And you do?" Wendy thought she saw a flash of guilt on his face.

"Better than you might think. I'm saving you Wendy. You and all the Lost Boys. Can't you see that? Where you're from, you would've had to get married, grow old, bear children and die. In Neverland, you don't have to grow up. You can stay just as you are, forever."

Wendy glared down at her hands. "Maybe I wanted all of that, maybe I still do." She looked up and saw the anger in his eyes. "I am leaving this island as soon as I can."

His eyes darkened and his hand latched around her forearm. "You are never leaving." He pulled her roughly, through the trees into a place she knew too well.

Her cage rested with its corners pressed into the soft ground. Peter placed his hand on her back, forcing her to crouch. Wendy tumbled gracelessly into the woven prison. "You can come out once you've learned your lesson."

He turned away and Wendy did not call after him, just watched him walk away.

Hours later, Wendy heard the rustling of bushes nearby. The Lost boys knew not to come near her and she doubted Peter would return so soon.

"Help!" she called, hoping beyond hope that whoever was there would come to her aid.

A woman rushed into the clearing. Wendy's eyes widened in surprise as the woman came to kneel before her cage. "You're an adult." The woman had blond hair, but unlike Wendy's, it was straight and seemed fairly well kept. Wendy hadn’t had access to a brush in a hundred years, so naturally, her hair was a bit unruly.

"My name is Emma. I'm looking for my son."

Suddenly a dark-haired man burst into the clearing, followed by another man in a reptile skin cloak. The first man looked as if he'd seen a ghost. "Wendy?" Wendy tried to place his face. Surely she knew him. The memory nudged her thoughts.

The woman stood. "You two know each other?"

The man didn’t look away from Wendy. "It's me, Baelfire." Suddenly it all fit. Bae had done what she had always dreamed of, he had grown up, left Neverland behind him.

"Bae."

It had been so long since she had felt his name on her lips. He knelt before her, taking the woman's place in front of her cage. "Yeah, we do," he said to the blond woman.

"Can it really be you?"

Bae found a rock and beat the lock off her cage. She rushed out, wrapping her arms around her long lost friend. "I thought I'd never see you again." She pulled away. "What are you doing here?" Now his name drew the reason she had returned to the forefront of her mind.

"Well I came back to save you." "You'd do that for me?" "I couldn't bear for you to be without a family, not after you told us that both your mother and father were dead."

The man in the reptile suit bristled.

"You told her I was dead?" Bae looked to the man, "It was easier than telling the truth. My own father abandoned me." He shrugged, but with a measured aspect that told Wendy that he was not telling the full truth.

Everyone on Neverland had secrets.

_"Where is he?" The boy looked up. "Who?" "You know who I'm talking about." He gave her a little smile. "Refresh my memory."_

_"Where. Is. My. Brother?"_

_"I'm fairly certain both your brothers are tucked safely in their beds in your world." He rose from his stump throne and took long, slow steps towards her. "That is the deal you made. I kept my end."_

_"Not John and Michael. Bae."_

_"He's not your brother, Wendy." Peter began to walk away and Wendy knew what he was doing. He was making her follow him like all his boys did. He wanted to see how much she wanted it._

_"Yes, he is. The Shadow promised-"_

_"To save your brothers."_

_Peter stopped and turned._

_"You said nothing about the boy you pulled off the street." Wendy's eyes filled with frustrated tears._

_"Where is he?"_

_"You already asked that question."_

_"You didn't answer."_

_In a moment he was in front of her, his face a hand's length away from her own. She could feel his breath on her face and knew he could feel hers._

_"Why do you care?"_

_"He's my brother."_

_"Lies. Why do you care?"_

_Wendy could have answered in so many ways._

_Because he is kind. Because he plays the dragon so that Michael can be the knight. Because John looks up to him. Because he tells stories of magic and fairies and follows it up with a warning. Because his hand felt nice in hers when he comforted her._

_"Because he made me believe."_

_Peter searches her face and frowns._

_"Wendy Darling. If I know anything about you, it's that you have always believed."_

_He paused a moment._

_"Bae left. I gave him the choice to go where ever he wanted. He didn't choose you."_

_Wendy took a step away from Peter._

_"Maybe he didn't want to bother us. Maybe he thought we were better, safer..."_

_"It doesn't matter, Wendy Bird."_

_Peter closed the distance between them. "Baelfire may not have chosen Neverland, but you did. You came back."_

_"Take me home. Michael and John will wake soon. My parents will worry."_

_"I can't do that, Wendy Bird."_


	6. Fairies

The Captain and Tink stayed behind, which was a bother for they both knew enough to see through her deceptions. Tink sat down beside her as Hook worked to gather any information he could from the Lost Boys.

"He'll never get anything going about it like that." Wendy watched as the captain went around, kneeling before each boy. "If he treats them like they're two, they'll act like it. Peter always treated them like allies, not helpless boys."

Tink shifted in her seat.

"What happened to you, Wendy?" Wendy tucked her hair behind her ear and as it fell back in her face she let out a puff of frustration.

"I tried to grow up," she said bitterly,"but it was like when you put a metal ring around a young tree, at first nothing happens. Then as the tree grows, fills in the ring, it becomes twisted, warped. This body thinks I'm still sixteen, but my mind tells me otherwise."

"Wendy, I don't think that your body is the ring that warps you, I think that Pan is doing that."

Wendy tugged on a curl but said nothing. "I think I'll help Killian, if you'll stay here." Wendy nodded, still not looking at Tink. She wondered if the fairy found it hard to be in her presence.

Naturally, she didn't stay put, but slipped out of camp while Tink's back was turned. She strode through the woods without purpose, knowing if she focused on going where she wanted to go, it would move before she got there. Through the years it had been easier to navigate the island with the mindset of "it'd be nice to be there", rather than "I need to be there."

As she expected, she ended up at the rope ladder of the treehouse in no time. Climbing up she found everything as she had left it only a few days before. Wendy dropped to her knees to reach under the bed for the box. Her hands brushed the familiar polished surface and she gave a triumphant grin to the puzzling piece.

"I didn't think you had it in you to betray me."

Wendy jumped. Turning around, she saw him standing in the doorway.

"Peter."

"Bird."

"You can fly."

"Surprised?"

"Not really."

He took a step in and Wendy became excruciatingly aware of how uncomfortable her position on the floor was, but she dared not move.

"But you had hoped your friends would prevail?"

She shrugged, "I dared not to hope."

Peter laughed. "He's here, though I'm sure you know that already." Peter knelt before her. "Strange don't you think, that the boy you once tried to save has grown up." It worried Wendy how deeply his words cut.

"I'm happy for Bae."

"I can always see through your lies, but you didn’t even try this time.”

He seemed disappointed, but whether it was in her attempt to lie, or her lack of attempt, Wendy could not tell. She assumed the latter.

Sighing she let Peter help her stand. “Come Wendy. I think I should return you to those idiots who are running about my island.”

_Wendy ached to itch her palm, but instead she held it away from her body. She twisted her wrist in circles as she looked up at Tink's treehouse. Her heart constricted like a snake coiled and squeezing. She looked back the way she had came, towards camp before turning back to the rope swing._

_One hand after another she climbed to the top. She pushed aside the strands of stones and arrowheads. Tink had collected them through the years from various Lost Boys and pirates who had crossed her. Peter had seen this as a threat to his power, but Tink didn't heed him._

_Wendy threaded one of the strands between her fingers, wishing she could have the strength to defy him like that._

_"Tink?"_

_A woman in a green dress came out from another sheen of beaded strands, her hands holding a bowl of berries._

_"Wendy."_

_She rushed to set the berries on the table and went to reach out her hands towards Wendy, but sees the purple stains all over her hands and wipes them down her dress. Wendy knows what she has to do._

_"I couldn't stay any longer. Peter, he just..." her words failed and tears began to swell in her eyes. Ignoring the stains on her hands, Tink rushed forward as Wendy began to break down._

_"I know, darling," Tink said as Wendy sunk to the floor. Tink followed, bending down and wrapping her arms around Wendy. Wendy buried her face into Tink's shoulder, letting real emotions fuel her body shaking sobs. Her hands clenched in the fabric of Tink's dress and the fairy stroked her hair._

_"Pan is a monster."_


	7. Incorruptible

He left her on the outskirts of camp. She still had the box in her hands. Still not sure why she had gone to get it, she clutched it to her chest. Ducking under the leaves of the trees, she once again made her way through the camp.

Tink saw her first. “Where did you go?”

The fairy was angry, but Wendy thought she saw some worry in her eyes.

“I went back to the treehouse. I needed to get something.” Tink looked to the box in Wendy’s hands.

“What is that?”

“Nothing.”

Wendy pulled it tighter to her chest, afraid Tink might take it.

“Wendy-” Tink said, the warning in her voice clear.

“Peter gave it to me, years ago. It’s a puzzle, another one of his riddles. Please Tink, you have to understand.”

“Wendy, he’s just messing with your head. This is just another one of his games.”

The worst part was, Wendy agreed with Tink, but something inside her wanted this to be something more.

“I know,” she whispered. Tink gave her a sympathetic look, “If you want, I could take a look at it for you.”

Wendy loathed the idea of handing Peter’s box to the fairy, but she did it anyways, keeping in mind that she needed the fairy’s trust. Tink took it, gave her a nod and then walked off to stand with the Captain who was watching her warily.

Wendy sighed, glancing around. Most of the Lost Boys refused to meet her eyes, but there was one that didn’t. “Hello, Felix.” “Wendy.” She sat down beside Peter’s right hand.

“He’s not done yet.”

“I know.”

“Your little friends might have chased him off, but he won’t let them have us.”

“They aren’t my friends.”

“Could have fooled me.”

Wendy let out a huff of air.

“You shouldn’t doubt him,” Felix said.

“I don’t.”

“After so many years with Pan, you think you might be a better liar by now.”

Wendy shrugged, “Maybe I’m just incorruptible.”

Felix let out a hollow laugh. “We both know that’s not true.” Wendy looked down at her empty hands, dirty and rough.

“I wonder what his next move is.”

“And that’s exactly what he wants.” Wendy brushed her hands down her nightdress, leaving dark streaks of dirt on the clean white material, standing. “And Peter always gets what he wants.” Neither had to say what they were both thinking.

_Peter Pan never fails._

_Wendy awoke to the feeling of another warm body near hers. For a moment she basked in the warmth. She imagined she was old, as old and weary as her soul felt. The warmth next to her was her husband, old and wrinkled with time and the rough housing came from their grandchildren, already awake downstairs. All ten of them._

_She let herself smile at the fantasy before breaking it by opening her eyes. Tiny little triangles of hard stone swung from bits of twine made from Nevertrees._

_The Darling girl slipped her bare feet out from beneath the feather light blankets and onto the soft wooden floor. Tink must have enchanted it to remove all the splinters. Perhaps she could ask Peter to do that for her treehouse._

_She hadn't asked for her gift in return for this task yet. Peter had a strange concept of gifts, in that, they weren't truly gifts because he gave them only when she had done something for him. More like a participation prize. He didn't have to give them out, but he figured they were incentive enough to keep anyone from resisting his wishes, as though anyone could._

_Wendy was relieved that he allowed her to choose her gifts, rather than assigning them like he did with the Lost Boys. With them it was a tier system. Each time you did something, he would raise the prize. The only other person who Peter didn't restrict to the tier system was Felix, but Felix rarely ever asked for anything._

_Wendy was not so selfless or blindly devoted to Peter. He had to approve her gifts, or she would not get it. Before she had tried for a tea set or some books, but had been denied. She supposed he didn't want her reminded of London._

Home _, a voice whispered._

_Wendy felt cold as soon as she stepped away from the bed. She told herself it was because the blankets were comfortable, but in truth they were scratchy and rough. Her skin did not ache for them, but for the feel of Tink's back pressed against her own. The warmth of another soul without the fear of rebuke._

_In London it was not uncommon for Michael or John to climb in bed with her. Perhaps that was why she felt so cold in her own treehouse. Wendy was a creature made for companionship, despite everything that Peter had done to her._

_With a rub of her arms, she made her way across the room to where Tink kept her potions and things. Wendy lifted a large bowl of purple berries and yellow leaves to reveal a panel in the woodwork. She carefully lifted it to find a flattened scroll. Unrolling it she found a chart with names on it. Two branches of names joined together to where Tink had written "Truest Believer?"._

_Wendy looked at the left side of the chart and saw a name she did not expect. Baelfire. He was directly attached to the Truest Believer._

_Seeing it written on paper gave Wendy hope. Bae had left the island. He had lived. Above his name was an unreasonably long name paired with a note. The Dark One. Above that was Malcolm._

_When Wendy looked to the other side she saw names from her storybook. Snow White. Prince Charming. Long lists of kings and queens above that. It all came to that one point. The Truest Believer._

_She couldn't let Peter win. Looking at the names, she made her decision._

_Wendy found a separate sheet and wrote it all down, all the while listening for Tink's steady breathing to change pace. When it didn't and Wendy had finished copying the list, she tucked it into her nightgown and tiptoed over to the rope ladder._

_Neverland was still enshrouded in darkness. From her vantage point, she could make out the burning campfire of the Lost Boys. As soon as her feet hit the moist ground, a shadow peeled away from a nearby tree._

_"Pan is pleased." "I would hope so," said Wendy. "Felix, how much longer?"_

_The tall boy shrugged, "Until your position is no longer useful."_

_Wendy extended the paper to him. It felt like sin on her fingers and the feeling lingered after. He tucked the paper away into a pouch on his belt._

_"Pan wants me to tell you that you will be well rewarded for your work."_

_Wendy nodded and shivered, knowing she would get no reward if Peter discovered her act of rebellion. Perhaps she should ask for a coat for her gift. "I don't like lying to her like this. Tink is my friend, she trusts me." "Which is exactly why you have to be the one to do it. Goodbye, Wendy." He disappeared into the thick brush silently."Bye, Felix."_

_Wendy climbed back up into the treehouse and into bed with Tink just as the sun began to rise._


	8. Heartless

The party of adults that had gone out to search for Henry returned with the boy’s body. Wendy stood with Tink and Hook as they filed in. “When I see that devil child again, I will tear his heart right out of his chest,” the Queen said. The others made no comments and Tink and Hook did not need to ask. Baelfire set his son down on a thin mattress before going over to his partner.

Wendy watched Bae wrap his arms around the blonde, Emma. Wendy felt as though she was interrupting on something private and averted her eyes, instead cast her eyes over to Felix who was smirking. Glaring at the Lost Boy, she walked to the opposite side of camp where one of the younger boys was staring wide-eyed at the grown ups. When she sat next to him, he immediately leaned into her, clambering onto her lap. It was moments like these that had made Neverland bearable for Wendy. The older boys were all angry and violent like Peter and the younger boys tried to emulate that most of the time, but on occasion, it was too overwhelming and they went to Wendy who would comb their hair with her fingers and recite poetry.

_Tink's abandonment felt like a part of Wendy had been ripped away. She knew she deserved it, so she suffered in silence. Her meals grew smaller as she spent more and more time away from camp, either wandering the forest or locked in her treehouse. Peter hated it. She saw it in his eyes, knew that he wanted her to stop moping, to go back to the way it was before. But it wouldn't stop._

_Peter had taken away everything. Her home. Her brothers. Her parents. Bae. Her freedom. Now he had taken away her only friend on this forsaken island, for the second time._

_She hid in the treehouse at night, not wanting to hear the crying boys. There was a knock on her door. "Go away." "Let me in, Wendy Bird." Her jaw clenched at the nickname. "I don't want your company." "Open the door, Wendy." "I've decided to spend the rest of eternity alone. You are interrupting my solace. Please leave." His hand slapped against the door. Wendy dared him to burst open the door, to break the sanctuary he had promised her. His pounding continued. A long series of hard knocks and poundings, Wendy wasn't certain her old door could take it. After a while the pounding died to a half-hearted tap and then to silence, which he broke with his voice. "Wendy, let me in." His voice was almost a whisper. Wendy slid the covers back from her legs and walked to the door._

_Peter was leaning against the doorframe, his eyes cast to the ground. When she opened the door, his eyes drifted up to hers. "Please rejoin the group." "I don't much care to go back down there." Wendy stepped away from the doorway and let him in._

_"You did well," he said. He was pretending to be soft, but Wendy saw the spark behind his eyes. He was playing games again. Always playing games. Games of make belief. Make Wendy believe. His tenderness was always an act. The real Peter was brittle, but unbreaking. He believed this charade necessary to win her over._

_He reached out to brush her hand with his. She jerked away. "What's all this about, Bird?" His soft demeanor dropped like a gauntlet. "You never had difficulties doing as I said before, why the sudden change of heart?" "She was my friend!" Wendy yelled, spinning on him and trying to mask the tears in her eyes. "You were using her to get information and pixie dust." He shouted in reply. "Because you made me!" She reached up to pound her fist in his chest. "You made a monster out of me, Peter. Every time I make a friend you use the relationship against me." Peter grabbed her hand and pushed it aside. "Tink had information I needed." He crossed his arms. "And Rufio?" Wendy said, no longer attempting to hide the tears. "Rufio is a valuable asset and you were sucking up his time."_

_“Sucking up his time? You keep him in a cave without any contact with real people. He stares at those screens all day and he couldn't have one hour off?" "You were a distraction." "Because I wasn't spending all day everyday with you? You locked him in there, Peter. Tell me it doesn't sound a bit extreme. Prove to me there is still something human left in you." "Perhaps I should do the same to you. Lock you up and give you time to think about how much I have done for you. Then maybe you'll begin to look forward to my visits." "You are a heartless monster!” She had screamed at him. “How could you?” Peter laughed, “You said it yourself, I am a heartless monster.”_

As Wendy sat in another place in another time, she couldn’t help but wonder if he wasn’t speaking the truth. Hearing a cough, she looked up to see Baelfire. “Wendy, I know I’m asking a lot of you, but do you have any idea where Pan might be?” “Bae, I’m sorry, but if I help you again, and Peter finds out-” She did not get a chance to finish her sentence. “

You better tell us where we can find Pan before I decide to take it out on you, girly.”

Wendy stared defiantly at the Queen, weighing her options. There was always the possibility that Pan made it out of this, and he would be livid with her if he found out, which he would. Then again, Peter had never been able to truly harm her. Certainly he had taken her away from her family, used her to blackmail her brothers into helping his plans, and locked her in a cage for a couple years, but he had never laid a hand on her with the intention of physical harm. So perhaps if she took this chance, led them to Peter, and they failed, he would be lenient with her. But, then again, if they succeeded, she would be free of Peter, of Neverland. She would be able to see her brothers again. She could grow up, get married, have kids, do all the things she had dreamed about. If she didn’t help them, they would surely fail. “All right. I will lead you to him.”

 


	9. Regrets

After much bickering, it was decided that Emma, Regina, and Mary Margaret would accompany her. They set out and made their way through the forest. “I think we have passed that tree before.” “We might have.” “You haven’t told us where we are going yet.” “And I won’t.” “Of course not. Hook was right, we can’t trust this girl, she obviously is working with Pan.”

Wendy couldn’t take it anymore, Regina was getting on her nerves in ways that even Peter had never managed before. “Have you learned nothing? The only way to get to where you need to go on Neverland is not to think about it too hard.” Regina shook her head. “That makes no sense.”

“To an adult, no. And that’s the point. Adults think too much about every little thing. If you do that, you get lost. Peter designed it so that only those who knew the island could find their way. Now will you please let me stop thinking about where we are going?”

Regina opened her mouth, but then decided that it was not worth it. “Thank you.” Wendy took a deep breath and turned around, trying to focus on Peter, not where he might be. Then she began to walk.

After what felt like forever spent in silence, they finally reached where she wanted to be. “This is it.” “I don’t see Pan.” Emma looked around and her eyes widened. “Regina, look there.” Sitting on a stump was a small box. It didn’t look like much, but the others seemed to recognize it. As they went to grab it, Wendy protested. “Don’t!” The looked to her and she felt the need to continue. “Peter would not have just left it behind for no reason.”

Mary Margaret looked at her, her eyes plaintive and desperate. “It’s David’s only hope.”

_David. The blonde man?_

Mary Margaret looked to Regina who nodded and the kinder woman reached towards the box. Suddenly a vine wrapped around Wendy’s ankles and waist, wrapping itself tighter and tighter, pulling her into the tree. “Wendy!”

She struggled against the constraints. “Don’t come any closer.”

“I’ll cut you out of there,” Emma said, stepping forward. As quickly as Wendy had been bound, so too were the others. “Wonderful.” Regina spat.

Wendy was not surprised when Peter appeared on her left. With Emma, Mary Margaret and Regina all bound on her other side, no one saw him put his finger to his lips, casting a spell that made her vocal chords useless. That, in addition to her limited motion, made it impossible to warn the others. He leaned in to whisper in her ear, “You chose them again. I trust you won’t forget this.” Wendy only glared at him as he walked around the tree.

“You’re still at it? Don’t you know?” He reached down and picked up Emma’s machete, which had fallen to the ground when the vines caught her, He twisted his wrist so that the blade glinted in the light seeping through the trees.

“Peter Pan never fails. I didn’t expect you to find me. Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. You’re mothers. Quite tenacious about your offspring. Believe it or not, I understand that. I see you have even managed to drag my little Bird into it.”

Wendy’s voice came back to her then, “Please Peter, I just want to go home!” In one motion he stood before her, the machete beneath her chin, lifting it up. “You had your chance.” “I was blind, foolish. I believed you could be saved. So I stayed.” “You were wrong,” he hissed.

“And you,” he said, turning to the three adults. “If you’re looking to see Henry again, I have to tell you that there’s only one place you’ll be reunited. In Death.” The vines jerked as Regina struggled to strangle Peter from the other side of the tree.

“Having trouble moving? Not surprised, given where you are.” Someone pulled the vines again. “You see what’s hastening your demise is your regret.” “What are you talking about?” Emma asked. Peter looked up into the branches.

“This tree is the site of a very important event for me.” He looked back down to the ones attached to the tree. “I abandoned my boy here.”

Wendy felt her stomach tighten. He had told her before about his past, to taunt her, to wave it in her face that he had had what she had always wanted. That he had tasted the fruit of adulthood, of parenthood and found it unfit for his tastes.

The others weren’t so nonplussed. “You have a son?” Regina’s tone was incredulous, but skeptical. “I’m older than I look.” “If you have a child, you must regret losing him too.” Wendy wished that was the case, that Peter had become so twisted because he had lost a loved one. “But I don’t.” He turned towards the box, “Quite the opposite actually.” He picked up the box. “You see, I have him all boxed up, so I don’t lose him again.” he said with a shake of the box. “Rumplestiltskin is your son?” Peter tossed the box into the air and caught it with a flourish of his hand. “That he is.”

“How’s that possible?”

Wendy knew that she had been more exposed to magic than most, but surely Mary Margaret was not that blind? “You’re-” “Younger than him?” Peter smirked, “Not really. Just like you and your daughter. Or Wendy and her baby brothers.”

“You’re a fraud,” Regina accused. “You’re magic is weakened. You can’t even hurt us, let alone Rumplestiltskin.”

“Please, don’t,” Wendy pleaded, not wanting to see Peter angry, not again.

“No, Wendy. She’s right. But that’s why I’m here. This tree will protect me until my power is restored and then, well, then I get to have some real fun. And I won’t ever have to worry about my child again. Something else we will all soon have in common.”

Emma tried to lunge at him, but the vines pulled tighter. “There has to be another way.”

“You’re not going to get to me. See this tree attacks the regret inside anyone who comes here. For example, Wendy here,” he said, his blade once again pointed at her. “Regrets not listening to her friend, Baelfire, when he told her never to trust magic. She regrets coming here the first time, and she regrets coming back. She regrets sacrificing her own brothers in an attempt to save the urchin off the street, who didn’t even need saved. I could go on, but she doesn’t need to hear her own regrets. She’s lived here long enough, she knows them herself.”

Wendy might have known them, but it didn’t feel any better when Peter spoke them out loud. He knew how much it hurt, he just wanted to twist the thorn in her side even deeper, but now he had moved back to addressing Emma.

“And besides, I know hers like the back of my hand. Hers are centuries old to me. Yours are still fresh. And you have plenty of them." "I regret not killing you the first time we met." "Is that all, Savior?" He watched her, read her.

"No. I have your son's heart inside me. I can feel just how much you let him down, time and time again.”

“Leave her alone.” Peter’s head swiveled to Mary Margaret. “Perhaps I should. After all, what chance did she have of being a good mother? Look at the example you set! Abandoning her for twenty-eight years.”

“Are you finished?” Wendy shuddered as he turned on Regina, wondering what he would say to the Evil Queen. “Last words from the Queen. Perhaps a deathbed confession from the one who has the most to regret of all.”

“Yeah, there’s one problem with that. I did cast a curse that devastated an entire population. I have tortured and murdered. I’ve done some terrible things. I should be overflowing with regret, but … I’m not.”

Suddenly the vines broke and Wendy freed herself just in time to see Regina reaching into Peter’s chest as she said, “Because it got me my son.” Wendy heard a scream, and then realized it was her own. Peter fell to his hands and knees.

“Peter!” She tried to reach him, but Mary Margaret held her back. “Wendy, no.” He slid to the ground as Regina grabbed the cube that contained the Dark One. As Wendy fought to remove herself from Mary Margaret’s hold, Emma came to the other woman’s aid, grabbing the girl by the other arm and pulling her away.

They went to the shore where a dingy was waiting.

Looking back into the forest, Wendy felt wrong. Someone was still there. Mary Margaret handed her over to Hook’s care, and the pirate helped her into the boat. Suddenly Wendy remembered what Peter had tried to make her forget. “Rufio,” she whispered and tore her grip away from Hook, running into the forest.

_“I found something for you.”_

_“What is it?” “Poems. I know you missed reading them.”_

_Wendy took the pieces of parchment from his hands._

_“_ _Did you write these?”_

_“No, I copied them down. I found a place in your world where they recite poetry. So I wrote down the poems.”_

_Wendy flipped the first sheet over. He had used every space available to write it down._

_“I can’t imagine how long it took to do all this.”_

_“It’s not that big of a deal.”_

_“No one has ever done something like this for me before.”_

_He wrung his hands. “I’m glad you like it.”_

_She read one of the poems on the page._

_“These are beautiful.”_

_“Like you.”_

_She threw her arms around his neck._

_“Thank you, Rufio.”_


	10. Scars

Her feet couldn’t move fast enough. She heard Hook running after her, calling her name. She crashed through the forest, running through the trees and into branches that whacked her in the face. A little voice whispered she should be more cautious, that there was Dreamshade and she could hurt herself, but it didn’t stop her. A root lifted and tripped her and she tumbled into a clearing. Rolling onto her stomach, she lifted herself up into a sitting position and looked around.

Surrounding her was the immenseness of the Neverland forest, accompanied by large round stone shoved against a cliff face. Wendy scrambled to her feet and ran to the stone, pressing her palms up against it. “Come on,” she whispered, trying to push it out of the way, but to no avail.

Leaves crackled as someone behind her approached.

“Wendy, you have to come back to the ship.”

“We can’t leave him, Killian.”

“Who, Wendy?”

“Rufio.”

Hook came up and joined her beside the rock. “You’ll never get it to move like that.”

Together they pried it away from the wall to reveal a steep path down into the island. Wendy raced down the path at a pace so fast that if she had tried to stop, she might have rolled the rest of the way down.

It seemed to stretch out before her endlessly and the only thing she could hear was her steps and Hook’s behind her. Suddenly she began to see a faint light around the corner. “Rufio!” she cried as she rounded the corner.

She barely had a chance to see him as she barrelled into the room. He stood from his chair in front of the monitors and she embraced him, making him stumble back a few steps.

“Wendy? Is it really you?”

“Yes. Come on, we’re leaving.”

“But Pan-”

“Is gone,” Killian said, coming up behind her.

“Hook.”

“Good to see you too, Rufio.”

“You tried to kill me.”

“You tried to blow up my ship.”

“Pan made me do it.”

“Of course.”

They stared each other down, and Wendy stepped between them, cutting off their line of sight. “We need to get off this island before it falls apart.” As if to prove her point, the ground above them shuddered, sending a spray of dirt to cover them.

“Right,” Rufio nodded, “lead the way.”

_“Hey! You! Stop!”_

_“Come on Wendy!” Rufio grabbed her hand and pulled her into the trees._

_Wendy laughed and ducked beneath a branch. Peter was definitely getting to her, if she enjoyed causing chaos like this. But maybe it was just spending time with Rufio. They came into a clearing and stopped to catch their breaths. Rufio released her hand and she was almost sad about it._

_“I should get out of that hole more often. I’d almost forgotten how fun it can be up here,” he said between huffs._

_“Rufio!”_

_They both spun to see the pirate captain enter the clearing._

_“You exploded a gunpowder keg on my ship.”_

_“Only had time for the one.”_

_Hook drew his sword and Rufio paled._

_“Listen, Pan, he said to-”_

_“I don’t care what he bloody said! You tried to blow up my ship!”_

_Rufio withdrew his own sword just in time to block Hook’s first blow, but the pirate quickly threw another. And another. Wendy backed away. Rufio was losing ground. She needed to get help, quickly._

_“I’m going to get Peter.”_

_She left them there in the clearing and raced through the trees. She needed to find Peter, but the island wouldn’t take her, so she kept running. Until she ran into a wall. She looked up to see Felix staring down at her._

_“Felix,” she said, out of breath. “I need your help.”_

_“Why should I help you?” He asked, pursing his lips in distaste._

_“Rufio’s in trouble.”_

_Suddenly she had his full attention._

_“Come on.”_

_Wendy followed Felix back to the clearing where she saw Rufio sitting on the ground, Hook standing above him, his sword thrust into the Lost Boy’s leg. When he saw Felix, he extracted his sword. Rufio screamed._

_Felix swirled his staff._

_“You stabbed a Lost Boy.”_

_“He set my ship on fire.”_

_They went at each other and Wendy had to tear her eyes away to rush over to Rufio._

_Blood soaked the ground beneath his leg._

_“If we don’t stop the bleeding, you’ll die.”_

_“Press down on it,” Rufio grimaced._

_Wendy nodded and stacked her hands, pressing down onto the wound. She could feel the blood seep through her fingers._

_“Harder Wendy.” “I don’t want to hurt you.” “If you don’t press down harder, I’ll die.”_

_She put all of her body weight into and ignored the scream of agony that Rufio made._

_Tears welled in her eyes. Wendy looked over to where Felix and Hook were still fighting. Felix was holding his own, until one misstep. As Hook brought his sword down, but managed to jump far enough away that instead of the blade burrowing into his skull, it traced down his face. He staggered back a few steps, his hand flying to his face and coming away with blood. Then he looked back at his opponent, a fire in his eyes. All of his swings grew harder and faster and suddenly Hook was on the defensive._

_Looking back down at Rufio, Wendy watched his eyes flutter. “Rufio, stay awake. Please stay awake.” She heard a clang as Killian deflected the Lost Boy’s attack with his metal hook._

_“Enough!” Wendy screamed and they stopped._

_“Killian, your crew needs you. Go back to your ship. Felix, Rufio is dying.”_

_They looked at each other._

_“This isn’t over,” the captain said before trampling back through the forest._

_Felix dropped by her side and ripped a long strip of cloth from his shirt and picked a stick off the ground. He wrapped the cloth around Rufio’s leg, just above the wound and inserted the stick into it, twisting it around and around. Wendy felt the bleeding begin to subside. Rufio’s head nodded forward and then he collapsed backwards._

_Felix looked at her and she traced the line of the cut on his face with her eyes._

_“This is your fault.”_


	11. Reflection

Tears were streaming down Wendy’s face, and she didn’t know why. She should be relieved. Rufio at first attempted to comfort her, but she only sobbed harder. It felt like a betrayal to take comfort in his arms. So she slipped out from under his grasp and disappeared to the other side of the ship, trying to escape from his sight and Felix’s accusing glare.

It all seemed so fake, as though this was happening to someone else. Truth be told, since she her feet had lifted off the windowsill the first time, she felt like it was all a dream. Perhaps if she just woke up, she would be back in London with her brothers in the nursery. Bae would tell her stories of magic and she would laugh and not believe him. This would all be a dream and eventually the memory of the dream would pass. But the longer she lived the dream, the more she was convinced that this couldn’t be her life. She found herself drifting around the ship.

The newly revived Henry took a moment out of his time before retiring to Hook’s quarters to sit beside her. “Why does it hurt so much?” she whispered. The boy reached for her hand, and pulled it into hers. It felt strange to be comforted, especially by one so much younger than her. “Because you loved him.” She shook her head. “No, I hated him. He was a heartless monster.” Her words, even to her own ears, sounded childish and fake. “But he was your soulmate. You were fated to love him.”

The way he said it made it seem so final. “So that’s it then? My soulmate was a monster, so now I’m fated to never love again.” “You can still love. In the stories you grow up, have children of your own. I’m certain you were never meant to be alone.” Wendy put on a smile and squeezed Henry’s hand. “Thank you, Henry. I think I would like to sleep now.” Henry smiled back, “Sure.”

He stood and disappeared below decks. Wendy laid down, tucking her arm under her head to serve as a pillow and pulled the blanket around her shoulders. As her eyelids fell, heavy with fatigue, she thought she saw a snippet of a shadow, but by then she was too far gone.

_Wendy awoke to Peter’s hand on her shoulder. In that moment her nightmare flooded back to her, but it all seemed so distant now, with Peter’s hand on her shoulder. The dozens of Indians who she had broken bread with and had kept her company when Peter was busy with the Lost Boys or off with Felix, staring blankly into the sky. The bodies of Lost Boys with them, broken on the ground. He would never let that happen. He was too protective of the island. So she let her little gasp devolve into a sign and pressed against him. Almost immediately, she returned to sleep, soothed by his hand._

_Hours later she awoke again, this time to a shift in the bed that had her rolling over to face the other direction. Peter’s green and brown form greeted her and she smiled and said his name. His face was impassive as he whispered to her. “There’s something you need to see.” Wendy nodded and allowed him to lift her from the bed and fly her from the treehouse._

_Though they had been flying frequently, Wendy still could not stand the heights. When she was on solid ground, looking down a cliff face, she managed, but if the only thing keeping her from falling was Peter’s arms, she’d rather not see how far she would plummet._

_When they landed and she opened her eyes, she faced him and saw a hesitant look in his eye. She smiled. Seeing him so off guard was a prize. But when she turned around, her heart dropped to the ground, followed by her knees. It can’t be real, she thought, I must still be dreaming. She looked on at the bodies strewn across the Indian campsite. Some of their tents still stood erect, albeit long tears in the sides, but most lay in shreds on the ground. Interspersed between the Indians were Lost Boys. It can’t be, her mind insisted, though her eyes disagreed. There was only one group capable of such meaningless devastation._

_“Wendy,” Peter said, his voice a plea. She could feel him step closer to her, not knowing how to comfort her. Her mind flashed immediately to the pirates. They must have snuck in. Peter had been alerted by the island in his dreams, just like she had. He had left to deal with it. That was why some of the Lost Boys lay dead on the ground. They had been defending their neighbors. “I can’t believe Killian would do a thing like this.” The weight of his hand on her shoulder felt heavy, though she knew he was attempting to comfort her. “This was in my nightmares last night. I never thought it would really happen.” His hand moved to her head and she leaned into his touch as tears filled her eyes and he stroked her hair._

_She opened her eyes and looked up at him, seeing him give a befuddled stare at the island around him. He looked back down at her and it hardened a little. He had known these people even longer, had lived alongside them for centuries. He must be feeling their loss even more acutely than she was. She rose from her feet and stepped close to him. “Peter, thank you for showing me. I should have listened to you when you said he couldn’t be trusted.” She rested her head on his chest and pulled him tight. Then his voice rumbled in his chest beneath her ear. “It’s all right. I’ll make certain he can never do this to the Lost Boys.” Wendy inhaled the woodsy smell of him and closed her eyes._

_“_ _He’s a monster.” She felt Peter’s arms constrict around her._


	12. Refraction

Pan crept silently along the deck of the Jolly Roger. All had fallen asleep under his spell. Even the perfect little Saviour had succumbed to his magic. To think he had once considered giving this up. This control over others. His intent upon enchanting the ship had initially been to step on and off without distraction, but his underlying weakness had overtaken him.

She curled up in the corner beside the stairs leading up to the wheel, wrapped in a rough blanket, that would surely irritate her delicate skin. Already, he could see it reddening near her neck, matching the color surrounding her eyes. Peter wanted so badly to trace the lines of dried tears down her cheeks and to wrap her in the finest of silks. Instead, he traced his cool fingers against her warm skin, healing the rubbing with the slightest brush of magic. She made the smallest of sounds, like a whimper that got lost and ended up a sigh, and moved into his touch.

Pan knelt and brushed a curl from the nape of her neck and touched his lips to hers, knowing that she would wake and taste him, and getting the satisfaction that it would likely instill the deepest guilt in her, a guilt that would eat her alive, that could only be assuaged by his forgiveness. Wendy needed to feel guilty for what she had done. How she had hurt him. Betrayed him. She would gain his forgiveness, after she had suffered silently, as he had suffered. He would rid her of the toxic influences of the adults, of Henry. Pan would rebuild Neverland with those who were loyal to him and his beliefs. Then he would let her back out, let her return to him.

Peter Pan stood and surveyed his work before disappearing beneath the deck. He had a heart to take.

_Wendy shook as she slept, her face contorted in fear and agony. He wondered what she dreamt of. He had been woken from his own dreams by her movement. It had been such a lovely dream as well. At long last he had eradicated the Indians from Neverland. He stood in their village center and surveyed his land. While some Lost Boys were scattered among the carnage, it was no great loss in the shadow of his victory. Finally they would stop attacking Lost Boys in the woods. He traced his hand along her arm and she stilled, sighing. Knowing she would likely sleep peacefully from there on, he rose from the bed and climbed down the ladder. If his dream was any indication, he would be rid of his red-skinned pests by the end of the day._

_With the victory raging in his blood, he returned to the treehouse and sat beside Wendy’s slumbering form. The mattress dipped beneath him and she mewled like a kitten as she turned over and blinked open her eyes. “Peter.” “Come, there is something you need to see.”_

_He flew her to the village, knowing it was the fastest path and landed in the center. “You can open your eyes now,” he purred. Her excitement was apparent on her face as she looked at his smile. Then when she turned around, he watched it fall into a look of horror. “It can’t be real. I must still be dreaming.” She collapsed to her knees and brought her hands to her mouth. “It can’t be.” “Wendy,” Peter stepped towards her. “I can’t believe Killian would do a thing like this.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “This was in my nightmares last night. I never thought it would really happen.” He stroked her hair, trying to push away the uncomfortable feeling in his chest. The island provided dreams for all of its inhabitants. It had shown him this victory. Wendy had seen it too. The island was his. All his._

_She stood and turned. “Peter, thank you for letting me know. I should have listened when you said he couldn’t be trusted,” she sobbed into his shirt. His chest pounded painfully beneath her balled fist. “It’s all right. I’ll make certain he can never do this to the Lost Boys.” She looked up at him. “He’s a monster.” Peter wanted to scream._


	13. Dusting

Felix watched with a sneer as Rufio did his best to avoid the Captain. He still blamed the killing of his entire tribe on the pirates, because Pan had wanted to keep it so. The other boy glanced over at Felix and nodded. He knew that Felix had nothing to do with his imprisonment in the caves, and as such, both maintained a grudging respect for the other. Felix knew that Rufio was important enough to Pan’s operation to show him mercy after his misstep, rather than killing him on the spot. Either that or Peter had let his feelings get the best of him, as he still had occasionally done before he took care of it.

No, Felix’s problem with Rufio was his devotion to the girl, rather than Pan. He glanced over to where she slept in the corner. She looked so weak lying there. He had always wondered why Pan kept her around. It wasn’t as if she did anything but cause trouble. While having her brothers was a good move initially, they had proved useless in the tasks given to them. They did not obtain the boy immediately after his birth, which was why Pan had to steal him now. He claimed she was important, that Felix would see soon, but he had not. And it had been one hundred years. One hundred years of Pan giving the girl task after task, and fighting him at every turn. In Felix's opinion, girls weren't worth the effort.

Now, her “brother,” Baelfire was waking her gently and treating her with the soft gloves that everyone, including Pan, had used when handling darling Wendy.

Henry approached him, bowl in hand. Felix didn't give him the satisfaction of bristling. He glared coldly at the kid. "No matter what those traitors do, I am still loyal to Pan. And Peter Pan-" "Never fails."  Felix took one good hard look at the boy, and in that moment he knew. "Pan." "We will make them pay," he looked over to where Baelfire was waking Wendy. "All of them."

* * *

 

Wendy rubbed her neck as she awoke. "Bae, what is it?" "Tink wants to talk with you." Below decks Tink and Rumplestiltskin were hunched over the workbench. "Any news?" Bae asked. Tink shook her head, "None. We can't make heads nor tails of it.” Rumplestiltskin turned on her, “What exactly did Pan say about opening it?” “He said it held half of a pair and would only open to the other half.” Wendy wrapped her arms around her chest and sighed, wishing she could tell them more. “It probably is empty. Peter was always playing games just to upset me.” Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, “I doubt he’d put this much magic into a box that contained nothing, dearie.” “But it doesn’t matter, right? Peter can’t hurt anyone else, so why do we need to get in there?”

Baelfire nodded, “Wendy’s right. What if whatever is in the box gives him more power, makes him stronger.” Tink replied, “Because, if it could give him more power, why wouldn’t he have used it? If there is something inside here that could give us a clue as to how to defeat him, we need it.” “Well, I don’t think we’ll make any progress on it now. I for one, have better things to do when we return to Storybrooke.” Rumpelstiltskin handed the box to Wendy Darling. “Enjoy your puzzle, dearie.” “I’ve been working on this puzzle for at least fifty years, I doubt the answer will show itself now.” Wendy set the box down on the desk.

Rumplestiltskin and Baelfire returned topside, leaving Wendy with Tink. While Wendy knew the fairy’s animosity towards her, they had also formed a bond as the only female inhabitants of Neverland, and Wendy owed her for her attempt at solving the box. So before Tink disappeared up top, Wendy called her name. “Tink. I want to give you something.” She reached into her dress and pulled out a vial, filled with a sooty looking substance. “I was saving it, for a rainy day I guess, but then, I stopped believing.” She pulled the fairy’s hand, which hung limp by her side and placed the vial in her palm, curling Tink’s fingers around it and squeezing gently.

“It’s the last of Neverland’s fairy dust, from the tops of the Pixie Forest. I hope it brings you more luck than it brings me.” Tink looked down at her hand, dumbfounded. “Wendy, you never cease to amaze. Thank you.” Tink went stiff as Wendy pulled her into a hug. “I believe in you.”

_“I bet you can’t reach the top.” Wendy jutted her chin out. “I bet I can.” “Let’s see it.” As usual, every move Peter made was carefully calculated. He knew he could get the girl to climb the tree, her blind loyalty was so obvious, it was laughable. As he watched her climb, her arms and legs shaking, Felix appeared beside him. Wendy looked down to see them arguing about something, but she wouldn’t let them distract her. She had to get to the top._

_It was worth it._

_At the height of the Pixie Trees, she could see all of Neverland. To the south, Mermaid Lagoon, and farther off in the water was the Jolly Roger. To her north she saw Hangman’s Tree, where Peter told her never to go. Then, shrouded in mist was Skull Rock, another place that was off-limits to all but Peter. As she sat there, at the top of the tree, she thought she saw a green shimmering. “Pixie dust,” she whispered in awe. Then louder, “Pixie dust! Peter!” “You have a couple vials with you, don’t you?” Wendy pulled them out, a smaller and a larger one and tried reaching for the dust with her hand, but it flitted away. “How do I capture it?” “Just believe!” Wendy groaned. That was his cure all for everything on Neverland. “Maybe if you can’t do it, I’ll send Felix up after you!” That was enough motivation for her. “No, I’m fine!”_

_Wendy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, the big vial was filled to the brim. She quickly replaced the cork and tucked it back into her dress. Then she looked again to see the barest shimmer of dust left, barely enough to fill the second vial. She willed it in and again was amazed to find it trapped in the smaller vial. Corking that and tucking it away, she began her descent._

_At the bottom, Peter and Felix stood waiting. Wendy pulled out the larger vial. “Here. The last of the Pixie Dust.” Peter was too enthralled by his new toy to see Wendy nervously wringing her hands, but Felix did not miss it. He cast her a warning glance, but she ignored him. Maybe she would use the smaller bit of dust to escape. Maybe._


	14. Pixie Berries

As they began their descent, Wendy felt her stomach doing flips. “Worried your brothers won’t like what you’ve become?” Wendy jumped. She had not realized she had strayed near Felix. “Their innocent sister isn’t so innocent anymore.” She shot him a glare. “They don’t know that.” He raised an eyebrow and she doubted for a moment, but shook it off. “At least I have someone to greet me. Who are the other Lost Boys going to stay with?” Felix rolled his eyes, “Those traitors? Who cares?” Wendy glared at him, aching to prove that she wasn’t as spoilt as he made her to be. “Perhaps I can help them.” “Little Miss Priss and her charity cases.” “Shut up,” she spat. Felix chuckled. “You have changed.” Wendy raised her chin, not deigning to glance at him, for the fear that she might realize he was right. “Pan saw it. Why do you think he kept you around for so long?” Wendy remained silent. Right then, Henry appeared. “Hey Wendy. Excited to see your brothers again?” Wendy cast one more scathing look at Felix. “Very.” With that she stormed off and awaited landing on the other side of the ship.

Bae found her steaming. “Look what I found.” He showed her a maroon robe with white trim. “It’s your robe!” she said with a laugh. “Yeah,” he said. “You looked a bit cold, so I thought you might want it.” Wendy laughed again as she slid it on. “You know this is the first piece of clothing I’ve worn in a century.” Neal laughed along with her, grateful to see her happy again. “It’s not that much of a step up from your nightgown, but I think it’s safe to say that your brothers will be more than happy to buy you whatever you need.” With the thought of her brothers, Wendy’s face turned melancholy. “I hope so.”

Looking back to him she realized something. “I almost forgot Peter’s box.” She dashed down to the little workroom where the box rested alone. Wendy was the only one going down when everyone else seemed to be headed up so they could get their first glimpse of Storybrooke. The box seemed so much bigger in the empty room than it had in Neverland. She picked it up, clutching it to her chest and raced to the top of the stairs.

Then she glanced up at the dark sail flapping above her head, and pitched the box over the side of the ship. "Goodbye, Peter." She didn’t hear a splash, but everyone was unloading. They had arrived.

Wendy was one of the last to get off, tucking herself in between groups of Lost Boys. She didn’t know what to expect. As she reached the top, she saw a crowd of people, half from Storybrooke and half from the ship. It seemed strange to see so many adults. Looking out into the swarms she saw two faces that she would’ve recognized if they had been in their nineties. “Wendy!” Michael had been two when she last saw him, but now he was easily twice her age in appearances. “Michael! John!”

The elder brother still had the same taste in glasses that he had when he was seven. “It’s so lovely to see you!” When they wrapped their arms around her, she expected to feel warm, like home, but was disappointed to find that too much had changed. Her brothers seemed not to share her sentiments. “We missed you so much.” “I missed you both too.”

Then Neal appeared and Wendy felt compelled to reintroduce him. “Do you two remember Baelfire?” “Hey.” Suddenly the four of them were all hugging, heads pressed together and never before had Wendy felt so short. She looked to her brothers, “You two have grown so much.” “You haven’t changed a bit.” They all laughed, but it felt wrong to joke about something like that. “So what do you plan to do now?” John and Michael looked at each other before John said, “I think it’s time for the Darlings to go home.” Wendy grabbed her brother’s arm. “Can we stay?” It was strange asking for permission from the brother she had known as a tiny little boy in glasses. “It’s just that, I want to help the Lost Boys, make sure they all find their families, or get new ones.”

Again, Michael and John shared a glance. “Please. They were my family for the past century.” “Alright.” John smiled at her, “Whatever you want.” She breathed a sigh of relief and pulled her brothers into another hug, dragging Bae in with them. Then Michael and John left to arrange for a place to stay in the interim period.

Wendy looked around at the Lost Boys whose families had not seen them, or were not there. They milled about, looking warily at all the adults. Wendy walked into the midst of them and announced. “I won’t let you all be homeless here in this world. Those of you who have families here, I will make sure that we find them. Those without will have shelter until we can find a more permanent solution.” “We’ll follow you, whatever you say, Wendy.” She found Rufio’s eyes in the crowd and he nodded, which restored a bit of her previous confidence that had shattered when two adults had stolen her brothers’ names and faces.

“What about Felix?” One of the boys asked.

Wendy glanced over to where the older boy was standing alone at the edge of the pier. “I’ll figure something out.” Wendy marched over, the power of authority pumping through her blood. “Here to offer me a warm, loving home? I don’t want it.” Wendy faltered. “What do you mean?” He looked up at her, “Exactly what I said. Anything you want to offer me, I don’t want it. I’m Pan’s man. I don’t follow you.” “Peter is gone, and I’m the only one offering to help you. If you don’t want it, suit yourself. I. Don’t. Care.”

She spun on her heel and heard his voice as he called, “How does it feel?” Wendy turned, annoyed, “How does what feel?” He narrowed his eyes, “Their adoration.” “Like Pixie berries.” Felix nodded, “That’s what Pan said too.” Wendy balked but then immediately regained her composure. "The offer stands." She nodded to him before returning to her brothers who were talking with an older woman and a girl dressed in red. Rufio was standing alongside, watching her, though not in the way Peter watched her, with the almost possessive stare, cataloging every move she made, but with an expectant and trusting look. She found she liked the way it settled on her skin.

The Lost Boys trailed behind and when Michael opened his mouth to protest, Wendy shot him a look and he closed it again. They began to walk away and Wendy had to smile as a Lost Boy approached Michael, slipping his little hand into her brother's larger one. Another went to John and John let him clamber onto his back. The older ones hung back with Wendy. As they left Wendy looked one more time at Baelfire who had one arm wrapped around his son's shoulders. She did not notice the boy following her every move with his eyes.

_Wendy sat on the shore of Mermaid Lagoon, looking out over the clear blue waters. She kept far enough from the waterline to not be dragged into the depths by the mermaids, but close enough that she could see them circling in the waters farther away. Peter had said that they wouldn’t dare harm her, that they only harmed his enemies, but Wendy wasn’t sure what constituted as an enemy of Pan._

_She came down here sometimes when she grew weary of the Lost Boys’ games. As fearless as they made themselves out to be, they did not dare tempt the mermaids, which suited Wendy just fine. Her bare toes wiggled as she revelled in the smoothness of the sand. The beaches in England were rocky and cold most of the year. Her parents had taken them once, and Wendy thought it a dreadful place. Cold, wet, and hard. In Neverland the beaches were sandy, and warm under the heat of the sun’s gaze._

_Wendy was drawn from her thoughts as she heard a splashing and stood in alarm as a mermaid approached the shore. Wendy scrambled back into the forest and watched as the fish woman pulled herself into shallow waters and pulled out a small conch shell. She pressed it to her lips and blew, but no sound came out. Tucking the horn away, she fumbled with a bag that was attached around her neck. Wendy couldn’t help but be painfully aware at how beautiful the mermaid was, even when she appeared nervous and distressed. Perhaps if Wendy looked like a mermaid, Peter might not ignore her._

_She shook the idea from her head as she heard the rustle of bushes alerted her to someone approaching from Neverland. A boy stepped out of the brush. He approached the water and the mermaid pulled the satchel from her neck, passing it to him. The two exchanged a few words before the boy pulled something from his shirt, a shell of some sort and handed it to the mermaid. Their business concluded, the mermaid turned back towards the water and disappeared. Likewise, the boy turned back towards the island._

_Wendy waited in her hiding spot, expecting something to happen, but nothing did. Neither the boy, nor the mermaid returned in the time she waited, and she did wait awhile. She waited until Peter found her sitting in the treeline watching the shore. He asked her if she had seen any mermaids. She answered only from a distance. He asked if she was hungry. She was. He offered her a handful of red berries. “What are they?” He grinned. “Pixie berries.” Her eyes lit up. “Are they magical?” He leaned in like he was telling her a secret. “If you believe, they might be.” He dropped them in her hands, like little red rubies tumbling into the hands of a queen. Wendy almost laughed at the thoughts that popped into her head. Her, a queen? Sometimes the way that Peter looked at her made her feel like royalty._

_Wendy lifted the berries to her mouth and then stopped. “What do they taste like?” Peter pursed his lips in thought, searching for the right words. “They are sweet, sweeter than anything you might have ever tried.” With that description, how could Wendy help but pop them in her mouth? She bit into them and juice exploded across her tongue. Then she resisted the urge to spit them out. Her face contorted and she quickly swallowed them. “Don’t you like them?” Peter asked. Wendy shook her head. “I thought you said that they were sweet.” A confused look settled over his face. “They are.” He pulled another handful from his pocket. A couple dropped in his mouth. He chewed. “They are,” he repeated. His eyes met hers, eager, insistent. She could still taste the berries on her tongue. Bitter, sour. Rotten. Instead of saying these things to Peter, she scooped a few berries from his hand. She placed them on her tongue and his eyes watched them. This time Wendy masked her reaction. “Now I can taste it.” The lie tasted like Pixie berries on her tongue, but Peter smiled._


	15. The Brain

Freedom felt like an old pair of shoes that had once been well worn. Now they were ill-fitting and the soles had begun to loosen from the harder surface. It was uncomfortable, but she tried to hide it the best she could and continue on.

Within the next few days, time passed as a blur in which she struggled to modernize herself. The hours she didn’t spend going door to door with a couple of Lost Boys was spent in the library, reading history books about the time she had missed in this world. So many names and dates and faces swirled through her head that she began to mix things up. Belle wasn’t much help, having been born in another realm, but she did the best she could to explain things. What Belle wasn’t informed on, her brothers filled in. They had lived through the entire time period, in some capacity or another, but for some reason they kept things from her, trying to protect her.

It was all so overwhelming for her.

On top of all this, the Lost Boys looked to her for guidance and leadership. Suddenly the entire episode of pledging to find homes for all the boys in a town that reviled them for their association with the town’s most recent “villain,” seemed absurdly hopeful and impractical.

She did make headway though. Some families of the newer boys stepped forward, the others’ families being long since passed. Rufio managed to track down families of boys who had recently been taken from the Land Without Magic through the internet, a perplexing device Wendy hadn’t the time for. He managed to contact the families and arrange for the boys to be picked up in the nearest town. With the barrier temporarily down, Michael and John made trips to transport the boys to the meeting places.

In addition, she also organized a collection of photographs and descriptions which she planned on delivering to Granny's diner as soon as it was complete. But such an exhaustive list of the former inhabitabts of the Island was, for lack of a more fitting term, exhausting.

Some part of Wendy felt guilty for sending them away. They had felt abandoned or unwanted in their old homes, which was why the shadow had taken them. Now she was insisting they return. Her heart lightened a little when she got to witness the reunion of one particularly quiet Lost Boy, Alex, Peter had called him, with his family, who had flown in to come get him. As soon as he saw them, he began yelling rapidfire in a language she had never heard before, rushing towards them and greeting his sobbing mother and teary-eyed but stoic father. With them stood a young girl with wide blue eyes who watched Wendy.

Alex returned and stood before Wendy and pounded a fist against his chest. “Thank you, Wendy Darling.” Now she understood why she had never heard him speak. He had such a thick accent, it was hardly intelligible. He must have given up on speaking early on. Then he surprised her, pulling her into a great big hug before returning to his family.

_Wendy picked up a rock from the ground beneath her feet. She hurled it at the devil boy's head. He disappeared and came back laughing behind her._

_"I hate you."_

_"Come find me when you've outgrown throwing tantrums."_

_Tears swelled in her eyes at his words. Her words repeated in a whisper._

_"I hate you."_

_She spent the next few days asking some of her loyal followers about communicating with her world. Eventually, that led her to one of the larger trees in the forbidden forest. Her fist swung toward the wood, but hovered inches away. Tootles had warned her. Peter would know if she managed to contact her brothers. He always knew. Though her inquiries had been discreet, she did not fool herself into thinking she might have fooled him._

_But she had to know._

_So she rapped her knuckles on the rough bark. Once. Twice. Thrice. It swung open like a door, revealing a set of stairs spiralling beneath Neverland. They were made of metal and seemed perfectly curved. The bumps in the steps were smoother in the middle from use. The middles were also slicker and Wendy found she had to grip the rail to keep from slipping down the steep slope. On the inside of the spiral, the stairs were so close together they looked more akin to a ladder._

_Another door greeted her at the base of the stairs. She opened it. It swung out towards her and she had to squeeze past. A boy with dark hair sat in a chair facing a large rectangle of light that was projecting views of two men sitting in a hallway. The men continually glanced up at the camera. One was shorter, the other taller and with glasses. The boy seemed to sense her presence for he flicked a switch and the light died and the image faded away. His chair swiveled around and he stood. He was as tall and similar in visible age as Peter._

_"Wendy Darling," he said with a smile that was softer than Peter's._

_"I wondered when you might appear."_

_He spread his arms wide. Wendy looked around at the metal everywhere in this cramped space. It seemed in every corner there was another piece of equipment she didn't recognize._

_“Welcome to the Brain.”_


	16. Climbing and Falling

Wendy stared down at the docks longer than she ought to. Long enough for Rufio to look up from his work and see her. He had been tinkering on something, just like he had always done in Neverland. He set it down and Wendy watched him hop off the ship and pad down the dock and up the path. Wendy tore her eyes away and looked back to where the twins were hanging upside down off a rusty looking bar. One fell and landed in the sand with a thud. Her heart lurched but the twin sat up laughing. Tootles ran over from where he had been playing with Nibs to try and take the place left open on the bar, but his hands slipped. He landed on top of the first fallen boy, who had just managed to get up to his feet. This turned into a game. Climbing and falling. Climbing and falling. The others joined in.

Wendy felt her log shift and she didn't have to look over to know who it was. "What are you working on?" She could feel him shrug next to her. "Hook wanted a system like in the Brain. I was trying to see if I could replicate it." 

She turned to him. "I thought Peter connected it with magic."

"There are many things that this world does with technology that are done with magic in other places. There must be a way. It just hasn’t been found yet.”

He always had so much optimism. Any problem could be solved, given the time and resources.

“Rufio, did you help them?” 

The boy ran his hand through his hair and looked away, at the younger boys playing.

“Yes. I’m not proud of it. Pan treated me like a brother for so many years, but he was wrong. No one should live forever.”

Wendy reached out and grabbed his hand from his knee.

“Thank you.”

She squeezed it, and he didn't pull it away. He held her gaze until she fidgeted and looked away. Her heart thudded in her chest, but a voice in her mind that had always spoken in tandem with Peter hissed that she was a traitor. That was the voice that won her over, like it had done many times before.

She pulled her hand away from his and he stood. On instinct she stood as well. "Stay safe, Wendy." "You too. I trust you know where to find us all if you have any need." "I'll just follow the trail of breadcrumbs." With that he shoved his hands in his pocket and walked away. 

Wendy watched his retreating figure return to the docks and checked back behind her to ensure that the world had not come to an end in the time in which she had been distracted. Luckily it seemed all of her various tagalongs had all four limbs, which was good enough for her.

They had disengaged from their earlier dogpile and returned to their own separate activities. The twins, unable to rest with their feet on the ground, were hanging upside down from the monkey bars. Nibs was swinging his legs back and forth, working up his momentum on the swing and Tootles was digging holes in the sand.

Wendy watched in a rather detached awareness as the twins completed a rather complicated series of tricks. Ones they had likely been working on for decades. In the least, if the two were forced to find work outside of Storybrooke, they could make good money on their routine.

The pounding of wood sounded and she sighed. Tootles had likely reached the wooden base of the sandpit once again. Turning around to look, Wendy saw that Tootles was only three inches below the sand.

“Wendy look! Buried treasure!”

The blood rushed from her face and her heart ceased beating when Tootles held up his prize.

In Tootles hands was a smooth, square box. 

_ Wendy sat in the Brain, watching Rufio work. Once in awhile he looked back and smiled, but the rest of the time, he was focused on his work. Wendy watched the screens without really seeing them. _

_ Peter was still sour with her for asking to go home again. She had come here to escape. Rufio told her that Peter rarely ever came down here. Every once in awhile, a Lost Boy came down to relay orders, but even those visits were scarce. _

_ Rufio was speaking into his machines and as he spoke, the machine registered his tone and words, repeating them in a different voice to the people on the other side. He had tried to explain it once, but Wendy couldn't be bothered. She was content to watch and marvel. Perhaps this was better than any of Peter's little magic tricks. _

_ After he finished speaking, he flicked one of the switches and everything went blank. He stood and stretched. Patting his seat he said, "Come and sit. There's something I want to show you."  _

_ Wendy stood, achingly aware of her hours of inactivity. Sitting in the chair, she felt overwhelmed by the number of screens. She had to turn her head to see everything. Luckily when he pushed a few buttons, only one came on.  _

_ The image was of a land of plants so dense, Wendy could see nothing. Rufio pressed a few more buttons and the image switched to a sight she remembered. "Big Ben." The clock tower looked just as she remembered. “I wonder if I’ll ever see it again. In real life, I mean.”  _

_Rufio opened his mouth as if to say something before turning back to the screen, the words dying on his tongue._


	17. Less Than Nothing

When Wendy and the boys returned to the house, it was in an uproar. Apparently some had already seen her book at Granny's and were calling in after their sons, brothers, nephews, and cousins. Many of the boys were gathering whatever they had brought with them from Neverland, which was very little, but even more were disappearing. Out of the thirty boys, about twelve remained unclaimed. 

Within the commotion, she set aside the box and focused on the melee that was rampaging in her kitchen. She could have sworn there were twenty adults in her house at a time, all calling for her attention, thanking her, wishing her well. 

Many of them wished her farewell, even a few of the older ones who shied away from her most of the time. Most promised to visit. 

They all left in waves. Wave crashed over wave, one by one, wearing away at her until she decided she needed to step away from the shore. She retreated to her room, which seemed to be up the longest flight of steps that always grew whenever she was tired. 

Downstairs the telephone rang constantly, but she managed to tune it out.

She couldn’t tune out the footsteps in the hall or the pounding on her door.

“Wendy! Phone for you!”

“Would you kindly tell them that I am unavailable at the moment?”

“It’s Emma Swan.”

Wendy sat up. She had heard it through the grapevine that the Saviour, the Evil Queen and Rumplestiltskin were planning on taking the box across the line to destroy Peter where he had no magic. No one had thought to tell her of it though. Not directly. That’s why she got this terrible knot in her stomach after hearing the news. Because they hadn’t told her. Not because of Peter. Because Peter meant nothing to her. Less than nothing.

But why was Emma calling?

Opening the door, Michael handed her the phone and she pressed it to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Wendy? It’s Emma Swan. Could you come down to the Sheriff’s office please?”

“What’s the matter?”

“It’d be better to show you.”

“I’ll be there.”

John drove her down to the precinct and Emma was waiting outside.

“Once you get inside, I need you to promise you won’t do anything irrational.”

“Why?”

“Just promise.”

“I promise.”

The woman nodded and led her inside, opening the door for her on the way in. They entered the main room of the rather small department and Wendy stopped dead in her tracks.

“Emma-it’s…”

“Henry.” Emma grabbed her shoulder. “Pan switched their bodies. That’s why I brought you here. We need you to help us find him.”

Glancing over at the tall, green boy across the room, she realized Emma was right. This wasn’t Peter.

_ Peter Pan never fails. _

Her mind flashed back to the conversation she'd shared with Felix, back when they were still in Neverland. If anyone knew how to find Pan, it was him.

“Where’s Felix?”

_ Peter tossed his knife into the air, deftly catching the handle and tossing it back up, watching it flip and flip and flip. He was so graceful and Wendy found herself envying him. Propped against a tree that was almost horizontal, each throw looked as though the knife might plunge into his chest. Pity it didn’t. _

_ “What’s the matter, Bird?” _

_ “Let me go Peter.” He sighed. _

_ “I’m so tired of hearing you say that.” _

_ “I’m tired of saying it. I would stop if you let me go home.” _

_ He glanced over at her, and for a second she thought he might drop the knife, but he didn’t. He never did. It was his superior reflexes. As he could stop an arrow flying at him, so could he absentmindedly catch a knife. _

_ It had become a sort of ritual with them. She would ask to leave, he would say no. Then they would move on, talk about something else. _

_ “I want to see my home.” _

_ “You know you can’t.” _

_ “You can’t even show me a vision. Surely with all your power there is a way.”  _

_ His eyes narrowed as he looked over at the girl whose eyes were locked on his knife. He seemed to sense what she had been thinking and his hand stilled. Her eyes, without anything interesting to focus on flitted to his face. _

_ “I’m sorry. I can’t show you your home.” _


	18. The Gunpowder Room

When it became apparent that Felix was no longer in the cell where he had been kept, Emma, Hook, Rumplestiltskin and the others went to search for Peter, who was apparently with the Queen the last they saw. Wendy instead headed down to the docks.

The Jolly Roger rocked back and forth above her and she glanced at the sail where they had trapped the Shadow, if only momentarily. The ramp that served as a walkway from the dock to the deck of the ship slanted down to Wendy at such an angle that she almost thought a ladder would be better suited for the task. Her stomach dropped at the dark water beneath the ramp and she was instantly reminded of the plummet she had taken upon her first arrival to Neverland. Instead of backing down, she hardened her heart and climbed. Once her feet were on the deck, the fear subsided.

Hook had no reason to keep the Jolly Roger locked up. He had enough of a reputation across all the realms that even the most plucky thief wouldn’t risk it. She descended down into the belly of the ship.

The gunpowder room was shamefully bare for a pirate, though Hook likely had found little time to restock after the adventure she had shared with Rufio. But, as was necessary for a gunpowder room, the space was completely dry. Which made it ideal for storing the new Brain. For as she had learned as one of her first lessons from John, technology and water don’t mix.

Rufio sat before a large screen, barely registering her approach.

“Rufio?”

He spun and blinked his eyes a few times, rubbing them with his hands. 

“Wendy? What is it?”

“He’s back.”

Rufio’s dark eyes widened.

“What do you need me to do?”

“Can you tell me what contacts he might have here in Storybrooke?”

Rufio nodded.

“It’ll take a while, but I’m sure I can compile them for you with what I’ve got set up down here.”

Wendy nodded and sat down on one of the larger gunpowder barrels. They were up for what seemed like weeks as Rufio sifted through what he had been able to salvage from Neverland. They went through a list of names and read all the notes on anyone who might have any connection to Peter. Rufio kept his own list on a leaf of paper where he wrote down the names and their “loyalty levels” as he called them. The higher the number, the greater the loyalty the person held for Peter.

Her eyes were strained and tired by the time they finished. She could see Rufio’s eyes were also red.

“You need to give this to Ms. Swan, so she can look over it for herself.”

Wendy nodded in agreement and stood. Before she took a step, Rufio grabbed her hand.

“Be safe, Wendy.”

Her chest constricted at the worry on his face.

“You, too.”

He nodded and they both turned away. As Wendy was exiting the doorway to the powder storage room, she turned back to see Rufio with his fingers locked in his dark hair, palms covering his eyes, elbows on the table. She turned away and ascended the ladder to the deck.

_ “You need to stay away.” _

_ The scar on his face was still fresh, raw with healing, though it looked much better than the hole in Rufio’s leg. _

_ “Where would I go?” _

_ “I don’t care. You can’t be near the Lost Boys or Rufio or Pan. I don’t trust you.” _

_ Felix’s eyes were hard set and unwavering. _

_ “If you’re so set on having me gone, why don’t you help me to escape?” _

_ “I will not betray Pan.” _

_ That was always why. Even when he had been briefly imprisoned by the pirates after a rather violent prank on Peter’s part, Felix would neither do nor say anything without Peter’s direct approval. Peter trusted this boy to lead the Lost Boys, even if it meant Felix had to deal with Wendy as well, who was always getting in his way.  _


	19. Loyalty

The sun had returned while she was beneath the Jolly Roger. It seared her eyes and she had to stand still a moment before she could see anything other than a brilliant whiteness.

Her feet carried her up past the playground into town and she was for a moment really glad that everyone here seemed to know her face and name and could point her to where Emma and the others were. 

They were gathered in the sheriff’s office again. Wendy handed the paper over to Prince Charming with a quick explanation before sinking back, putting as much space between her and Henry-not-Peter. 

“He has the Curse,” the Queen said. 

“So what? Haven’t you already used it?” Emma asked. 

“No, dearie, Pan can use it again, but this time, the curse won’t have the failsafe of True Love woven into it and it will be built as per Pan’s desires,” Mr. Gold sneered.

“Then it’ll be infinitely worse,” Hook interjected.

“There has to be a way to stop it,” Henry-not-Peter said and Wendy startled at the sound of his voice.

“There is, if we can get the scroll. Only the one who used the scroll can stop the Curse.”

“How will he even get the last ingredient?” the Queen asked, her head flicked towards Wendy.

Wendy didn’t like how all over their eyes flickered to her as though she wouldn’t notice. Baelfire met her eyes and pressed his lips together in silence.

“What’s the last ingredient?” she asked, the fear from staring into the dark waters returning.

No one answered for a moment until Emma said, “The heart of the thing he loves most.”

“Loyalty,” she whispered. “That’s why he needed Felix. He’s going to kill him.”

She stood, some part of her saying that she needed to help him, no matter what he had said or done, but Bae grabbed her shoulder.

“Wendy, it’s likely too late.”

The weight of that statement settled like a rock, but she knew he was right. She rested her head in her hands as they continued to talk.

“If you put me back in my body, I’ll have the scroll, and I can bring it to you.”

“Gold, do you know how?”

“I do, but I’m afraid it’s not as simple as knowing. You see, this magic has it’s roots in very dark, ancient magic. I will need something equally powerful to break the enchantment.”

“The Dark Fairy’s wand,” Tink offered. “Last I knew Blue had it. I’m sure she wouldn’t have allowed it to go too far away from the Sisters.”

Gold nodded.

“I do believe that will do just fine.”

Emma turned to Tink.

“Will you take Killian and Neal there?”

The fairy nodded.

“Perhaps we should go now,” the pirate offered, “the sooner we can get rid of this monster, the better.”

Tink nodded with a glance to Wendy before following the dark leather coat. Baelfire rested his hand on her shoulder as he passed.

“It’ll all be fine. You’ll see. Good always wins.”

With that, he followed the other two out.

“Mary Margaret, David, try and get the townspeople to safety, but don’t tell them what's going on. Make sure you track down the people on that list. If anyone’s missing, we need to know.”

The sickly sweet couple nodded and whisked out of the room like cream.

“Regina and I will see if we can find a way to counteract the Curse if we don’t manage to stop Pan before he casts it,” the Saviour supplied. “Gold, take Wendy and Henry to the shop. Keep them both safe, but keep Pan away from Wendy.”

“I am not your personal babysitter, Miss Swan.”

“Gold…”

“Very well. You two,” he said pointing his staff at each of them in turn. “Come with me.”

_ Wendy screamed, shaking the bars of her cage. _

_ “Peter! You can’t do this!” _

_ “I think you’ll find he can.” _

_ Through the slits in the woven prison she could see Felix leaning against the nearby tree, a hard red line still marring his face. _

_ “Felix, let me out, please.” _

_ “Fat chance of that, love,” Peter’s voice called. “See, Felix told me what really happened.” _

_ “Peter, please.” _

_ “You took something from me.” _

_ Her mind raced to the vial of pixie dust that rested against her chest. _

_ “He was a valuable asset, Wendy. You corrupted him. Now you both must suffer.” _

_ “What have you done to him?” _

_ “Don’t worry about it Bird. The traitor will still continue his work, but he doesn’t need any more distractions.” _


	20. Heartbeat

The baubles in Gold’s shop held very little interest for Wendy. She had had her fill of magic. Rumplestiltskin’s warning about touching anything just reinforced her resolve. Henry-not-Peter sat down on the bench as they waited for the others to return. Wendy kept her distance as Mr. Gold prepared whatever it was he needed to switch the souls back.

Despite her best intentions, she was drawn to the shelf behind the back case. It held a series of coffers and cases. Dark metal twisted around the sides of one such chest, accenting the deep red beneath it. Spikes jutted out like thorns from the metal vines. At the top, the thin ropes of metal formed a twisted heart shape.

“What did I tell you?” Mr. Gold was right behind her and she pulled her finger away from one of the spines, unable to recall how it had gotten there.

“Don’t touch anything,” Gold repeated, enunciating each word.

“What is it?”

“It’s a box. A very powerful, very valuable box.”

“What does it hold?”

“The heart of an old friend.”

Wendy recoiled from him.

“You took their heart?”

“Would it matter if I did? But to set the record straight, no I did not take this particular heart. It was given to me for safekeeping by the owner.”

Wendy stared at the box, ignoring the pull to touch it.

“Why would anyone remove their heart?”

“If you don’t have a heart, you can’t be killed. Or controlled.”

Gold gave her one last warning glare before returning to his work. The bell to the front door chimed.

“Handle that, will you, dearie? I’m not accepting customers right now.”

Wendy walked around the thin wall to the front of the shop to see her brothers in the doorway.

“Wendy! Where have you been? We’ve been looking all over for you.” Both John and Michael looked as though they had not gotten much sleep that night. Wendy did not doubt that she looked the same.

“I’m sorry. Truly, I am. Pan, he’s free and we have to catch him and stop him from sending everyone to the Enchanted Forest.”

Her brothers both stiffened and stared behind her. Michael grabbed her arm and pushed her behind their backs.

“He’s here.”

Wendy turned around to see him in the doorway and for a moment her heart stopped and she couldn’t think straight for the jolt of fear that shot through her. Slowly, it settled and she was once again able to think.

“That’s not Peter. That’s Henry. Peter switched their bodies before going into the box.”

Michael still did not budge.

John spoke next with firm resolve. “We’re leaving. Now. We’re going back to London. We should have listened to Baelfire when he told us that magic is evil.”

Wendy tried to think of an excuse, something to keep her here, but she had accomplished the task that had kept her here. All the Lost Boys had found homes, in some form or another, she had relinquished the last of the pixie dust to Tinkerbell and now...well now Peter’s fate was nearly sealed. She would be safe in London. There was nothing to hold her back.

Rufio was here though. He didn’t know anyone here, not really. And she would be abandoning him with Hook, a man he never really trusted. But Wendy had caused him enough pain already. She shouldn’t drag him around like this. She had to let him go too. Let all of Neverland go.

So when Michael turned to her for her answer, she nodded.

“Let’s go then,” John said.

She followed them out into the street when she heard a voice call her name. It was Henry-not-Peter, jogging out after them.

“I just wanted to say thank you. You didn’t have to stay, but you did, you helped out. I know you lied to me when we were in Neverland, but I just want you to know, I think you’re a hero.”

Wendy stared up at him, questioning until he pulled her into a hug.

“We’ll miss you, Wendy.”

With her head pressed against his borrowed chest, Wendy couldn’t help but feel that something was off.

“Henry?”

He pulled away and smiled. “What is it?”

“You don’t have a heartbeat.”

_ Wendy was falling, dropping like a rock, and she couldn’t do anything about it. But there was magic. She knew it existed, she could feel it. She tried flapping her arms. Maybe if she believed it would work, really believed, she wouldn’t land in a pasty puddle on the ground. _

_ And then she stopped falling. Mind you, it wasn’t the light poof of a fluttery pillow, but it also wasn’t quite the jolt she was expecting. _

_ Two arms gripped her beneath her knees and shoulders and she smelled woods. Deep dense woods. Looking up, she saw the face of her saviour. He had soft brown hair and green eyes to match his shirt and smell. _

_ “You’re a girl.” _

_ She replied with a breathy, “Yes.” _

_ “I’m Peter Pan.” _

_ “Wendy Darling.” _

_ Beneath her fingers pressed against his chest, she could feel the manic beating of his heart, racing against her own’s pace. _


	21. Silver

“Are you sure you want to do this yourself dearie?” Wendy stared at the box they had retrieved from the house as it sat on the wooden work table in the back of Gold’s shop. The others had returned with the Shadow and the Dark Fairy’s wand in hand and now crowded the small shop.

“I’m sure,” she said, willing her voice not to betray her.

“Very well.”

Gold swirled his fingers over her hand and she watched as a translucent deep purple cloud of magic formed around her fingers. She gazed at it, mesmerized for a second before pressing it against her chest, and then deeper until she could feel her fingers tighten around her heart. It was as though her arm was both there and not there at once. A gasp forced through her lips by the pain of removing her heart.

Even more surreal than feeling her arm inside her chest was the sensation of her heart beating within her hand.

It was a dull red, but with a look like tarnished silver that just needed a bit of polish. It had been neglected too long, she thought with a harsh laugh.

This brought her thoughts back to the box. As she brought her own heart closer to it, she could feel a deep, familiar but long forgotten magic in her bones. The same magic that she had felt when she told stories of an immortal boy to her two younger brothers before she ever thought it possible. It was the same magic that had moved her to accept the Shadow’s hand, despite Bae’s warnings.

The magic built with the proximity until she felt she could no longer withstand its force. Then, as she touched her beating heart to the box, it clicked open.

Pity immediately washed over her. The heart within the box was warped. Something about it seemed too small and too large at the same time. As though it too had been stretched and compressed in Peter’s continual struggle between adult and child. Unlike hers, it was beyond a tarnished silver. It appeared covered in soot as thick as a chimney sweep.

She picked up the heart and turned to Gold. “Here. My work is finished.”

Gold nodded and Wendy passed by the others, not meeting their eyes as she went out onto the street. Her brothers were nowhere in sight. Her chest ached for no good reason and she felt as though she would crumble into a million pieces so she took a seat on an old bench and covered her eyes with her hands. Her breath staggered until she could regain control of it, just in time to hear the doorbell on Gold’s shop ring as the others exited. Neil approached her and put a hand on her shoulder.

“You okay?”

She nodded.

“Look I-” he glanced away, searching for the words before meeting her eyes again, “I know it hurts, but you did the right thing.”

Something in the trust in his eyes pushed her over the edge and she began to cry. He pulled her upright and into a hug. When was the last time she had experienced genuine kindness or compassion?

“Hey, hey. It’s all going to be alright. Okay? I promise.”

When she settled, he let go.

“I know you have John and Michael, but if you ever need to talk about it, call me okay?”

She nodded and he gave her a melancholy smile before returning to the others, who were probably off to celebrate.

They couldn’t hear the commotion inside and they were facing the wrong way when Peter Pan burst through the doors.

_ The early memories of Neverland were fainter, like someone had taken the thick extract of recollection and dropped it into an ocean. _

_ But Wendy remembered the joy of that first night, before the Shadow had taken her home. Dancing around the bonfire, laughing, telling stories, singing half-recollected songs out of tune at the top of her lungs. The magic, not just the pixies and the mysterious forever children, but the tangible feeling that coated everything in pure energy. This was what magic felt like to her. Freedom. _

_ Screaming till her voice was hoarse at the pleasure of it all, no governesses, no fancy china, no warnings. Her heart bubbled with joy. Tied up, wondrously, stupendously, miraculously, in all of her revelries was Peter Pan and he looked at her as though he were a dying man and she was life itself. _

_ She never wanted to leave. _


	22. Nightingale

 

Wendy ran after him and grabbed his arm. "Peter stop!" Wendy cried. "Don't do this!" The others turned at her voice to see Peter standing before them. With a wave of his hand, they froze and Wendy was rooted in place. Peter slipped his arm from her grasp and surveyed the scene. 

"Look at them, so helpless. I could play with them like a pack of dolls." 

He appraised them all before turning on Bae and Belle. "But I think I'll start with these two. You both look so adorable, hard to tell which one to kill first." 

Peter turned to face her. 

"What do you think Wendy? Wait, of course. Beloved Baelfire. How could I be so thoughtless? She gave up her freedom to save you. You have the honor of giving up your life." 

Tears began to fall from her eyes. In her mind she begged him to stop, to look at her. But her silent pleas went unspoken as her lips would not move. Rumple appeared then. 

"You will not lay a hand on either of them." 

"Who's going to stop me? You? The coward who ran away? The monster who chose his magic over his own son? Perhaps I should be proud, you followed so closely in my footsteps. Then again, those were failures. And Peter Pan never fails." 

Rumple widened his stance. 

"I'm going to do what I should have done long ago. But first, I have something of yours." 

He shoved the bright pulsing heart into Peter's chest and as the demon boy recovered from the shock of having a heart shoved into him, he raised his hand above his head as his shadow swooped in and placed a curved dagger in his hand.

"Goodbye, Papa." 

With one thrust, he impaled the dagger hilt deep through Peter Pan's left breast and out through the green fabric on his back. As the body crumpled, Rumple withdrew the dagger and Pan sank to the asphalt. Everyone unfroze and cheers filled the air. Belle wrapped her arms around Rumple and kissed him. Both Emma and Regina hugged Henry and David and Mary Margaret embraced. Hook watched on in his own silent celebration of his newfound freedom from an old tyrant. Even Neil pulled his father and son into an embrace.

Their joy was cut short by a bout of laughter. Every eye turned to the crumpled green form rising from the ground. "Good show, Rumple, but I'm afraid you have to use my actual heart to be able to kill me. And that, laddie is locked away somewhere you will never get to it." 

"But," Mary Margaret started, "but we found your heart. It was in the box Wendy gave us...she opened it herself and handed it to Gold." 

"You've been fooled by her then. I would not have given it to her if I did not trust her to protect it, wholeheartedly."

Neil looked past the demon to a spot further along the pavement. "Wendy." 

Peter turned to see a white dress and blonde hair sprawled across the pavement. He was at her side in an instant, using his magic to transport directly to her. He looked down and saw a red stain spreading from her chest outwards and puddling on the black asphalt. 

"Bird." 

Her eyes fluttered. 

"Peter," she whispered. 

The others arrived then like a herd of elephants, but Peter couldn't hear them, couldn't see them. Only Wendy. He felt the slow dying beat of her heart in his chest.

His fingers slid beneath her curls which had become matted with a layer of blood which pooled without a wound. 

"Bird what have you done?" 

"I figured out your riddle. Two halfs. You knew even back then?" 

Every word was a losing battle for Wendy and it pained him to listen to her. 

"From the moment you first set foot on the island, it reacted and I knew you were different." 

"Peter it's cold." 

Tears involuntarily swelled in his eyes and he hated it. The pull to her had always been too strong, even after he had put away his heart. Perhaps it was because it was not just his heart that longed for her, it was his mouth, his fingers, all the way down to his toes and as deeply as his soul. 

"You can't leave me, Bird. You're all I have left." 

"I love you, Peter Pan." 

"I love you Wendy Darling." 

Her eyes seemed to soften at the words as they glazed over. Peter pressed his forehead to hers, holding it there before tipping his head and placing a kiss on her lips. The throbbing in his chest stopped and he put his free hand above her heart within his chest.

_ Peter glared up at the shadow. “That’s the price I must pay? My own heart?” “It will keep your body from progressing any farther. As long as it is not attached to you, you cannot be harmed. You cannot grow.” _

_ He nodded, rubbing his hand in circles above his heart. “What’s the price?” “You will become less Peter, and more Pan.” A flash of curly blond hair filled his mind and the voice of a lark. He pushed it away.  _

_ “Whatever it takes.”  _

_ Plunging his hand into his own chest, he extracted a glowing red heart, with the slightest twinge of black on the edges. Perhaps it was only his imagination, but as he set it down in the box, it began to darken even more. Then it was sealed. The shadow handed it to him. “This box can only be opened by its pair.” Pan nodded and accepted the box.  _

_ “I understand.” _


End file.
